Xenophily
by bofomania
Summary: Yes, another Shep/Tali romance thing. Almost exclusive Shep/Tali interactions in between missions, near the end of ME2. Exploration of Shep & Tali's mutual alienness. Mild humor. Rated M for good reasons.
1. Dating

I have read several fanfic portrayals of the Shepard/Tali thing where Tali is essentially a human woman who happens to have an immune deficiency. Examples of this are the multiple 'defloration of Tali' fantasies, complete with the painful rupture of the hymen... So I had this idea of exploring a more complicated relationship between two alien species.

In ME, quarians are human-like in many ways including male/female dimorphism, family centered social structure, etc... Of their anatomy and physiology, few things are known: they apparently have an endoskeleton, lips, teeth, two eyes with eyelids and tear ducts. They have three digits and are of dextro chirality. They may be mammals or mammal-like (females have breast-like things), but I could find no confirmation from ME. Of note, the actual earth definition of mammal is pretty broad: a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterized by the possession of hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young. Also of note: a few rare species of earth mammals lay eggs. Yes, nature is weird. Also, male quarians probably have external sexual organs (hence the armored 'codpiece' on their suit).

There are degrees in alienness, of course. Human and quarian cultures, behavior and biology could clash on so many levels... But I tried to limit the differences so it would be still fun to explore Shepard & Tali's interactions. Having no idea of what Tali may look like, I tried to avoid going into too much details. Same with Shepard: no specifics.

My first publication. Please review.

* * *

**Chapter 1. Dating**

_From: Tali'Zorah  
__Received: 9:37  
__Status: replied/archived  
__Would like to meet with you. To talk. 20:30 in your quarters?_

The orange glow of his omnitool faded as he lowered his arm. This meeting had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Was she still worried? Or was there another problem? He had re-read her message twice already. It was 20:33.

"Commander, Tali asked me to tell you she is sorry for her delay and is actually entering the elevator from engineering."

"Thank-you EDI. Please let her in as soon as she gets to the door."

"Of course, commander."

Sighing, he walked to the large aquarium occupying part of a wall near the entrance to his cabin, trying to compose himself as he watched the colourful fishes lazily swimming around. He had been baffled at first, seeing this thing on what was basically a military ship. After a few weeks however, he had become used to it along with the size of his bed, his window, his couch and all the rest. Eventually, he had decided to play along, buying some fish. In retrospect, it had been worth it; watching them was definitely relaxing, hypnotic even.

After what must have been a few minutes, the door to his cabin swished, yanking him from his contemplation. Turning around, he saw Tali's suited figure slowly making her way in, hands clasped together in front of her waist. He had not seen her at all today and, at this moment, she looked more beautiful than ever to him, the complex patterns on her purple veil seeming almost alive under the shifting light from the aquarium.

Approaching, she locked eyes with him. "Shepard..." then, after an awkward wave of a hand, she added "...Ho- How are you? I hope this meeting is not... inconveniencing you." She had rehearsed her opening line in the elevator, but could not help just blurting it out.

Noticing her nervousness, Shepard was reminded of his own worries. He extended a hand "I'm well, Tali. And I'm really happy to see you."

After a brief hesitation, she took his hand and got closer. The situation felt a bit blurry and unreal to her, but his hand felt good. She had been in his cabin a few times before, but its amazing size and luxury were all but forgotten now as she stood there, heart pounding. Holding his hand had a calming effect though, like an actual physical anchor.

Looking at her, he asked "Your message said 'To talk'. Is there something specific you want to talk about? …Is there a problem?"

Tali quickly replied "Oh?... No!... Nothing special..." Lowering her gaze, she continued "I just thought that… After what we said the other day near the drive core, that is... That it would be a good thing to spend some time together in a… relaxed atmosphere to... um... get to know each other more?" Of course, Sheppard would never have guessed she had rehearsed that line also, largely inspired from her educational vid 'Human Courtship and Mating_.'_

Shepard immediately relaxed. He had not realized how tense he had been up to that point. "Oh! ...That's a great idea!" Regaining his composure, he continued "It's true most of the time we've been together has not been in a 'relaxed atmosphere' as you said. _She basically asked me on a date... well, the closest thing to a date anyone could get on this ship_. He felt stupid not having thought of that first… _Definitely better way to spend an evening than building a ridiculous ship model_.

Tali looked at him and he was quite sure she was smiling also, her head slightly tilted to one side. She raised a hand to his cheek and delicately brushed a finger along his jaw. He could not resist gently pulling her in a hug. Her initial stiffness quickly melted as she put her arms around his chest and rested her helmet on his shoulder.

Lost in each other's embrace, time seemed to slow down to a trickle. After some time, Shepard was the one to break the spell. "You don't know how happy I was when you spilled the beans down in engineering. I- I don't think I could have done it."

In a teasing tone, she replied "Where is my fearless leader?"

He chuckled. "Well... Guess there are places where even a leader is afraid to go"

She snorted. The embrace lasted a few more moments.

At some point, Tali pulled away a little "Shepard, you never answered my question back then... when did you start having... you know, these feelings?"

He took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. "I'm not sure, really... But it was on the first Normandy. As the mission went on, I found myself thinking of you more and more."

"So? ...Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm not really good at this, Tali. Besides, you were on your pilgrimage. And I was pretty convinced you'd have thought I was some kind of pervert for having ideas like that..."

"If I had known... Maybe I would have done something about it. I could have been there for you instead of... her"

Shepard looked toward the aquarium. He was embarrassed, but knew this had to come out. "I... It was confusing. I still don't really understand what happened but... Maybe it was the meldings... Maybe she felt a need in me." He looked at her again "Anyway, what happened during the last two years... it put an end to whatever there was or could have been between Liara and me. There's nothing now but a few confused memories..."

She hugged him closer, again resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm just glad you're back now..."

With barely more than a whisper, he continued "What happened is probably for the best anyway. The way I ended up, how would you have felt if we had been closer?"

This reminded her of how she had been dead inside also during those two years on the Migrant Fleet and how, despite rather obvious offers from a few very good quarian males, she had been cold and unresponsive, unable to move on. She did not want to burden him with her difficulties while he had been... absent. "That's why I had to tell you of my feelings this time, Shepard, I... I couldn't bear the idea of losing you again without having been with you..."

He cut her off, pulling away a little to better look into her glowing eyes "Tali, I'm not planning on dying again or losing you, or anybody else on this ship for that matter. I plan on winning and for us to come back to tell about it!"

She looked at him in silence for a few seconds. Here was her fearless leader. Forging ahead, envisioning nothing less than complete victory. Part of her was utterly convinced now that he really could do it. And the rest of her wanted to believe it.

The moment passed, and she said in a teasing tone "So, maybe I should have waited then... I 'spilled the beans' too soon?"

He grinned. "No. You did the right thing. Better safe than sorry!" He pulled her in again.

* * *

Later, the lights had been dimmed and soft musical tones were playing in the background. They had moved to the couch, sitting one against the other, holding hands. Each was enjoying the feeling of the other's appendage. Three and five fingers. Skin and glove.

There had been a short moment of awkward silence, neither knowing exactly how to proceed.

Shepard knew how to put his quarian girlfriend at ease, though. She always seemed to forget all worries when she could talk about the Fleet and her people. At first, he thought he had been clever, asking her how quarians courted on the migrant fleet. He was not so sure anymore, with the direction the conversation had taken.

"I see, it makes sense really..." He felt a little uncomfortable, squirming on the couch. "You know, humans can be as definitive about this, although there are many variations". _Is she hinting at something or is it my imagination?_ After a short pause, choosing his words, he added "this kind of life long relationship is not rare among humans also, I think."

"That was my impression too..." She looked away for a few seconds, trying to remember other aspects of human behavior from the vid and her own observations. Moving her gaze back to him, she continued "Although... It seems that... humans often will make short trials with different partners before settling for a more um... permanent arrangement."

Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, he replied "Yeah... I'm not an expert, but I think this is more the rule than the exception." Now, trying to change the direction of the conversation, he asked her. "So... I gather you never had a... boyfriend before?"

She snickered. "You think because I never showed my face to anybody, I never had any interest?" Before he could even think of replying, she continued "About a year after my mother died, there was this friend... We got along well and spent our free time together..." she chuckled "...But we never got any further than holding hands in public on a couple of occasions... so, I'm not sure he would qualify as a boyfriend in the human sense of it." She looked down, continuing "Relationships before pilgrimage are rare and disapproved of... The probabilities of being together on the same ship when coming back to the Fleet are so low. Also, it defeats the whole idea of encouraging genetic diversity. Anyway, my father... I don't know if he learned about us or if it's purely by chance... but he started to demand more of me, giving me more duties, putting me through all sorts of training and all. I never saw this friend again. For a few years, until my pilgrimage in fact, I had practically no free time and no social life. Someone told me he got back from his pilgrimage too... But we never met or talked again."

She felt sad. Not because of that guy, but because these memories reminded her of the two years that went by after Shepard's disappearance. But now, he was here. With her. She raised her head, looked at him and said, beaming "It's all in the past now."

Shepard had felt her sadness, but did not know what to say. He was happy to see her snap out of it however, and amazed again at how she always seemed to come out on top.

After a short pause, Tali asked with a smile in her voice "Now, it's your turn to tell me about your first girlfriend."

Shepard laughed. "Guess I painted myself in a corner here... Well, if you want to know." Still smiling, he continued after a short pause "We were both sixteen. She was tall and lean, had long brown hair, and brown eyes..." He closed his eyes, trying to conjure in his mind a good picture of her. "Her family had a farm next to ours, on Mindoir. We were in the same class at school. We had been good friends since childhood and our parents were good friends too, so she often came to my house to play and I went to theirs often also. One day, coming back from school, she convinced me to hold hand with her. The week after that, she gave me a small kiss on the cheek. Then, after another week, she gave me my first real kiss... I mean on the mouth."

Tali chuckled "so she was actually leading you into this?"

Shepard laughed "Yes... I was clueless..." Looking at Tali, he added, still smiling "Guess I'm not much better now..."

Tali was enjoying herself. "Well, obviously, if you're not good at this as you said... someone has to be for you!"

"Yeah, right... Anyway, we went to a dance one evening. That was our first and only real formal 'date' together. Our parents thought it was cute. They did not know we used to sneak in a hiding spot near the border between the two farms and... kiss." He looked at her, embarrassed.

Tali chuckled again, seeing his expression. "Uh-huh?... just kissing?" It was fun seeing 'The Shepard' squirm like that. All this time spent learning to read human body language was really paying off now.

Resigned, Shepard relaxed and sighed, looking at her sideways "Well... We did a little bit more... But we didn't really know what we were doing... Fumbling, mostly." He did not want to go into further detail. They had been careless and lucky, as nothing bad had ensued. Nothing that he knew of, that is. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. _Not that it would have mattered, with the slaver raid just a couple of months after that._ But he managed to block this line of thought, not wanting to go there again.

He raised his head after a few seconds and said, managing to put on a thin smile as he looked at the fish tank "Like you said... It's in the past now."

Sensing his trouble, likely related to the horrors she knew had happened on Mindoir... his family... his girlfriend. She squeezed his hand gently. "I'm sorry Shepard."

"It's- It's OK Tali. We both had a troubled life... lots of painful memories."

She sighed and replied "There's a saying among my people, about the mending powers of time." She then said a few words that, to him, were just a meaningless jumble of sounds. He shook his head "Sorry, my translator..."

"Oh... I gave you the original version... it's in an old language."

Shepard turned toward her "Time heals! That's what we are told... humans, I mean."

She had brought his hand on her lap and was playing with each of his fingers, separately. She was happy at the change in the conversation's direction. The past was the past. Now was now. And right now, she was with an alien... who was not so alien after all. "Isn't it surprising, how two species that evolved on worlds thousands of light years away, with different biochemistry and all... How they can end-up feeling and saying the same things?"

He turned in his seat so as to face her and replied "Oh... that's convergent evolution." He closed his fingers on one of hers and squeezed gently "Billions of years of this thing going on... so that we could be together you and me."

Tali exploded in laughter as she playfully slapped his hand away. "How dare you, Shepard! Using 'convergent evolution' to talk to a woman? Now I understand what you meant when you said you're not good at this."

"Hey, you brought-it up first!" he retorted, laughing also.

After a few seconds of laughing together, he continued "But you're right Tali, it is surprising... two different species. I wonder... how is it even possible for you to feel attracted to an... alien like me?"

"Are you serious?" it was her turn to feel embarrassed. After a short pause, realizing he really was serious and expecting an answer, she continued "Well, I thought a long time about that at first. I found it hard to believe also... But it all makes sense on some level. I think it's a question of body language, and maybe the voice also... In other words, Shepard, I think you have something in you of a very attractive male quarian!" she laughed as she finished, watching the human's feigned look of shock at the revelation.

"But even more important than that..." she added, catching her breath and becoming more serious. "...are your character and all of what you did." She decided not to add anything, as they shared a silent gaze. She could have gone on with a lengthy enumeration of all his qualities and actions, how he was good, strong, courageous, fearless, how he had saved her life time and time again, how he had helped her in so many ways, and how she felt she could trust him with her life. But she knew it would have been too much and would just have made him uncomfortable.

After a moment, he smiled and said "Don't worry. I see where this thing is going."

She too smiled, tilting her head slightly on one side. Her version of the question had been ready as soon as he had voiced his, and she certainly did not want to cut him any slack, especially now. In a mischievous tone, she replied by stating "Of course... After all, you did color… um… paint yourself in a corner again."


	2. Shameless Human Exhibitionists

Second installment. The first chapter was cute but poor in **M** and **Xeno **stuff. This second chapter gave me more trouble as I wanted to explore how both characters would be preparing in their spare time for their upcoming you-know-what. Of course they would do it alone, by themselves. This is less interesting than dialogues, but... Anyway, I tried to keep some humor, with a strong Tali character and a very slightly silly Shepard (I think it makes him more loveable... and I know he can take it!).

Tali has access to the extranet, and I don't see why she would refrain from using it for her research! I would in fact expect her to be pretty savvy with it. Shepard would obviously be as curious about quarians as she is about humans, but at a disadvantage due to the scarcity of available data. Fortunately, Mordin did provide him with everything he needs to know. Well, that's what the game wants us to believe...

* * *

**Chapter 2. Shameless Human Exhibitionists**

The tall muscular blond-haired and blue-eyed human male said in a deep voice "come here" as he gently pulled the slender suited female to him. The way she pressed herself against his chest made it obvious she was more than willing to comply. His hands were running along her back, from shoulders to bottom. Hers were doing the same while she slowly raised one knee to his hip, sensually rubbing her leg against his. His hand followed the curve of her bottom and continued along the back of her raised thigh. She moaned softly. The man then said "remove your visor... I know what you want!" Bringing her hands to the release mechanism on each side of her helmet, the female answered in her strange but seductive accent "yes, kiss me... now!" There were a few clicks, a hiss, and the visor was tossed on the ground. Both were now kissing furiously, moaning, hands roaming all over. Some sort of rhythmic music was playing in the background. Holding her bottom again, the man lifted the female. Her legs now tightly wrapped around his waist, he walked toward a nearby table where he sat her down. One of his hands slowly moved to her breasts, their kissing intensified... After a few seconds, the female pulled away a little, looked in his eyes and said-"

"Bosh'tets! That's enough!" muttered Tali, shutting off the video application of her omnitool. Nervously, she looked around. _Still nobody_. She was a little bit upset at her failure to restrict these extranet 'explorations' to the more private setting of her sleep pod. Her main fear was that Kasumi might be there, actually looking over her shoulder. The thief had a knack for popping into existence in the most embarrassing places and times.

But that stupid vid - the last of the few crappy human/quarian porn fantasies she had found - had also upsetted her in a different way. Right from the start, of course, she had easily spotted the fake envirosuit, the female's five fingers and her abnormally straight legs; she could have been asari, but turned-out to be human. It had soured her mood much more than it should have if it was just because of the usual misrepresentation of her species. No, it had hit at something deeper. It dawned on her then; this was not hard to understand, really. It simply had resonated with her persistent fear of Shepard being disappointed because of her difference. She knew it was irrational and that she should trust him more, but she just could not help it. To play it safe - more to reassure herself, in fact - she decided to add another item to her 'to do' list; next time they met in his cabin, she would make sure - as subtly as possible - that he knew there would be some... 'difficulties'. She had a thin smile _That will be an interesting conversation_.

Watching all these shameless human exhibitionists on the extranet had at least given her a few ideas on how to please him. She felt more confident now. This had been a good complement to her educational vid.

_So strange how humans mate_. When she had first seen how it was done, she had been concerned with all the pain that must be involved. But, apparently, it was not painful if done properly. They seemed to enjoy it, in fact. A lot. She wondered how it would feel, if she was human, to have a thing like that inserted into her. After barely a second, she shrugged, dispelling the silly idea. _Nature sure is weird... But who am I to judge. _This way of doing things seemed to have been quite successful for humans.

As a consequence of her self-imposed crash course, she felt she had reached a new level in her understanding of humans. Of course, a few things had been explained - superficially - to her two years before, like why human engineers kept referring to 'male' and 'female' connectors. But now, she understood better how those references to shape and size were weaving through their behavior and, especially, their humor. She vividly recalled an incident two years ago, on the first Normandy. Two male engineers had approached her after she had picked an elongated EM probe from a tool rack. One had asked her if it was 'big enough for her needs' - a now obvious reference - while the other had been chuckling. Stupidly - but how could she have known back then - she had replied that, having worked with smaller ones, she had found them to be as effective. Confused, she had walked away while the two men were practically rolling on the floor laughing. Later that same day she had sought enlightenment from Adams, but he had only added to her confusion as he had appeared infuriated and embarrassed, telling her this would not happen again. She wanted to be angry now at how they had taken advantage of her ignorance, but she just could not. The two men that had teased her were dead; they had disappeared when the ship was destroyed. She sighed.

One of the displays on her console started to blink, warning that results from a scheduled test run were available. She tapped a few buttons. Apparently, one of the port side power couplings was starting to act up again. This would require some minor manual adjustments, but there was no rush. She could wait until the two human engineers came back from their lunch break to start on that task.

Her mind drifted back to the meetings with him - the 'dating' as he would say. These occured in his quarters for a few hours every evening their duty allowed them to and, so far, she was quite happy at how they were turning out. She felt much more comfortable in his presence now, and she really had learned so much more about _...John_. His first name still felt a little strange to her. But she would get used to it; after all, the use of a more personal name was a part of intimacy for humans. He was so different in private; he had doubts, regrets... fears even. This had been reassuring to her - she could relate to doubts, fears and regrets. And to her, this made him even more worthy of praise; fighting not only against outside ennemies, but inner ones as well... She could not wait to be with him again. These thoughts were replaced by others concerning her preparations. She had all the elements of the recipe to bolster her immune system, with the exception of the herbal supplements. This would have to wait until she had access to a turian market for the required dextro-based plants. Any large spaceport would probably do, but the Citadel, Nos Astra or maybe even Omega would be the best places for this. She just had to wait for the right opportunity.

There was a noise from the other side of the room; the door to engineering had opened. Her heart fluttered... _Shepard?_ But it was Kenneth and Gabriella coming back from lunch. Disappointed, she quickly regained her composure.

As the two humans approached, Kenneth said "You know Tali, comin' in I half expected to find you with the c... Ouch!" Gabriella had just elbowed him in the ribs. "Why have-you done that for, woman?" complained the man, turning to his companion.

Gabriella immediately shot back "Will you stop teasing her for a minute?"

Tali knew that rumors were already circulating about her and the commander. It was annoying, but there was nothing she could do about it. In fact, this kind of gossiping reminded her of home - _so much like quarians_. But Kenneth had always been most annoying and she felt there should be some pay-back. Inspired by an expression she had heard used among humans and that she now felt she understood enough, she replied "It's Ok, Gabriella. As I understand, some human males have a small organ and they compensate by being overly assertive."

She turned to watch Donnelly, glad her visor was hiding her equivalent of a smirk, as the man's face turned red and he almost stumbled, saying "What?..."

Gabriella started laughing loudly and slapped the man between the shoulder blades "That's what you get Ken, for messing with the boss!"

Tali did not remember where she had heard this expression, but it did not really matter right now. It just popped into her mind. _Knowledge is power_.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the quarian engineer was toiling in the bowels of the Normandy - so to say, Shepard was busy on his quarters' toilet, also dealing with bowels but in a different way.

He sighed, wondering if his present condition had anything to do with Gardner's mystery ingredients. A few days ago, the mess sergeant had told him they were out of some ingredients and that he would have to be _creative_ in his cooking until they could dock somewhere to restock.

Recalling how his mother always had said not to strain, Shepard resigned himself to be patient and let nature follow its course. At least he was not lacking in reading material.

Grabbing his datapad, he decided to try - again - to make some sense of the documentation Mordin had given him a few days ago. It was his second attempt and he just hoped he would not get a headache like after the first.

All the information he needed was probably there, it just was completely scrambled. A line of text on emotional responses would be followed by an equation describing a biochemical reaction, which would in its turn be followed by a diagram representing some kind of hormonal feedback loop in an unidentifiable organ, and so on. There was no index or summary. This was not an 'advice booklet' as Mordin had called it, more like a disorganized pile of data. Maybe it was adapted to Mordin's mind; the salarian scientist was impressive but so hard to follow at times.

Discouraged even before he reached the end of the first 'page', he decided to change his strategy and started skimming the document for interesting images. Soon, he found a single somewhat grainy picture, obviously very old - the data partially corrupted as if it had been transferred several times from different support media. It represented three individuals; two females and one male... quarians. No suits - they had some kind of clothes, and the faces were clearly visible. He was fascinated and spent several minutes staring at their faces. He was reassured: no horns or spikes, no oozing slime, no obvious fangs. The color of the skin, the shape of the heads, the eyes, the mouths, the shape of the jaws, the chins... _Are these ears?_ All of this was obviously alien, but with everything in roughly the right place. Most of these features would have been a little bizarre in a human face but, taken together, they had a definite harmony to them - an elegance even. If nothing else came out of this 'advice booklet', at least he had an idea now of what Tali might look like.

Skimming again, he found a series of diagrams showing the female reproductive system at different stages of a pregnancy, with the growth of a foetus. They were not easy to make sense of, but it was obvious the quarian reproductive system was not quite like what he remembered from his human biology class. And in the last diagram, he was struck by how big the foetus looked considering the size of the mother. _That could explain the hips... _

Further on, he found another series of anatomical diagrams including a few limbs, the respiratory tract and the digestive system. At least these were grouped together. Maybe there was a bit of organization to this 'booklet' after all. Eventually, he found a representation of the quarian male reproductive system. Some of it appeared to be external. After a moment staring at the image, he realized there was nothing he could compare to his own. Going back to the diagrams of the pregnant female, he looked for the ins and outs and could not figure anything. He sighed. _Oh well... I suppose I should have expected this_.

Mordin had said something about erogenous zones, but he had found nothing on that topic through his skimming. No recognizable picture or diagram in any case. _Must be somewhere in the text._ By now however, he was starting to feel the same weariness that had preceded his headache on his previous attempt. Maybe he would try again later. Another option was simply to wait and improvise. He knew Tali could probably explain everything much better than any book or 'booklet'... He smiled at the prospect of a more 'hands-on' approach.

Disappointed at nature's obvious lack of cooperation, he dropped the datapad on the counter and went on with his other preparations, thoughts tumbling through his mind. _Mordin recommended I self sterilize_... He would have to research this on his own and procure the necessary equipment or products as soon as possible. Mordin also had said to be cautious with oral contacts, but there was no formal interdiction... He wondered how it would feel to kiss her. Then he wondered how it would feel to have her naked in his arms. He knew he should not have too many expectations from this 'linking of suits' as she had said - _there will probably be more fumbling than anything else..._ Despite these reservations and despite his concern for her health, he was looking forward to trying this with Tali and felt strangely excited. Horny, even. Looking down, he could see that his body was one with his mind. He sighed.

Trying to calm down, he focused on his coming rounds.


	3. Shepard goes Shopping

I just felt it would be fun to have Shepard do some shopping with his friends. First version was funny but too cartoonish and the plot did not hold well. Had to do some major rewrite and I think it turned-out fairly OK, a little more in the style of chapter 1. Fourth and last chapter - the BIG moment - is mostly written and being tweaked. It will be... different. It will definitely be worth the **M** rating, but those who expect porn will be disappointed as the accent will be on the awkwardness and **Xeno** stuff. Stay tuned.

* * *

**Chapter 3. Shepard goes shopping **

It was late morning in Nos Astra, and the heat was already making things difficult for anybody unlucky enough to be stuck outside. In the old part of the city, an unusual trio was making its way down a narrow street lined by small businesses. There was something about them - or maybe it was just the armor and weapons - that encouraged the few other pedestrians to stay out of their way.

"I like the smell of justice in the morning, Shepard. Your intel was good."

Garrus had that look of intense satisfaction that the commander had learned to recognize two years ago. He knew this had been the perfect situation for his turian friend. Black and white. The bad guys had paid for their crimes and there had been no collateral damage. Well, the building had probably lost most of its value, but no innocent had been harmed. Nodding toward Tali, he replied "She's the one to thank for that, Garrus."

A smile in her voice, the quarian walking by his side replied "just doing my job, Shepard."

Making a show of it, the turian managed a bow toward her, saying "thank-you for just doing your job, Tali." His turian version of a smile disappeared however as he added "In any case, I doubt these dirtbags will be missed!"

Shepard had to agree with that. Mercs were already pretty low on his scale of respectability. But this particular group had devolved into the usual red sand trafficking and also had their hands in the slave trade. He felt absolutely no guilt in having crushed the lowlifes like insects. Tali had found a hidden back door to their hideout and this had made the job easy. "They had lots of credits though. That will come in handy."

They continued walking in silence. The street snaked ahead, colorful ads plastered on every available square centimeter of wall surface. The extraction point was still a little way off.

Shepard fiddled with his omnitool and, after a few moments, emitted a soft "Yes!" He then pointed at a small building further down the street. "I've got to stop there for supplies. You two should stay by the door. I know we're far enough from the target... well out of any reasonable police perimeter, but I'd hate to be surprised."

Garrus sighed noisily and commented "Shepard, you're the boss... I'm pretty sure you could send somebody else on this kind of errand!"

Turning to the turian, he replied "It's on our way... And there are some things I'd rather do by myself."

They had almost reached the store's blue and orange door when Shepard chuckled, pointing to the turian's left arm "Besides, if this little stop bores you, you can use that omnitool of yours and start on some paperwork... I can't believe you've got nothing for the ship's log after all your upgrading and calibrating." While Garrus was still looking at his left arm, somewhat perplexed, Shepard locked eyes with Tali and added "Won't be long anyway, just need a few personal hygiene items..." He winked at her as he finished. A slow, deliberate wink. She chuckled nervously and her eyes went round for a second, but said nothing.

Focusing his attention back on the human, Garrus said "Hygiene? The Normandy's full of soap, Shepard... Oh, I get it! Special needs! Sensitive Hero Skin Syndrome or something!" Then, with a look of resignation, he blurted "Oh, all-right! Whatever!" He motioned for him to enter. "We'll keep watch on that door while you have your little fun."

Laughing, Shepard went in, followed by his companions. Turning to them again, he said "at least you'll be out of the heat while you wait for me..." Leaving them by the door, he proceeded within, moving between well-stocked shelves.

* * *

Good thing he had found this small drugstore along their way. He'd rather go through hell and back again rather than ask Mordin for the antiseptic products he needed. One 'safe sex' talk was more than enough. On one hand, he was grateful for the information the salarian scientist had given him - however garbled his 'advice booklet' had turned-out to be - but, on the other, the episode had been rather embarrassing and he did not want a second serving. Basically, Mordin had recommended that he self-sterilize. He would see to that.

He stopped in the middle of an alley and tried to access the store's directory, but his omnitool got only garbage. A few additional fruitless attempts later, he decided to look for help.

There was a single counter at the back. An asari was behind it, busy at a terminal. Stopping in front her, he waited, feeling bizarre and out of place doing small-time shopping right after a battle, fully geared, his assault rifle still warm on his back and his adrenalin level barely starting to taper off.

The asari stopped her work and turned toward him. Their eyes met. Hers were hard, malicious even, as she sneered "Let me guess... You want the money and the drugs?"

Completely taken by surprise, Shepard had a moment of hesitation "...What?"

"Don't play with me, human! I was a commando for longer than you've been alive! You and your friends' intentions are pretty obvious" she continued, nodding toward his two companions which were standing on each side of the entrance door. "My finger is on the alarm button. Now, you can just walk out of my store like nothing happened or its lockdown and the police comes to pick you up. Choose wisely."

She was right he realized, mentally slapping his forehead. They did look like they were up to something. Classical setup, in fact. He cleared his throat "This is a misunderstanding. Look, we're back from... err... work, and I need to buy some stuff. I asked my friends to stay there because I don't want them to see what I'm buying... It's ah... personal." He had ended in a conspiratorial tone, shooting a glance back at Tali and Garrus.

The clerk was considering what he had just said. She looked again at the two armed people at the door. _Lame explanation... so lame it could be true_.

Shepard continued, smirking "Especially the turian - I'd never hear the end of it." He then produced a credit chit, saying "See, I'll pay for my stuff... No hold-up here."

She had made up her mind. Her gaze lost most of its hardness as she nodded to him. "Ok, but there are monitoring devices... so, no funny business!" Her hand came out from under the counter.

"You have my word. Just an ordinary customer." He raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck "And... sorry for the fright."

She had a thin smile "Oh, well... that was a little exciting, at least. You have no idea how boring this job is." She eyed the door again "You keep strange company though. A human working with a turian is already not so common, but add a quarian and it becomes... exceptional!" She had this nagging feeling of being just about to remember something. These 'costumers' were reminding her of somebody...

He shrugged. "We're a team."

"I see... Now, what can I do for you?" And as she was going through his small list, part of her was still trying to remember. _Where have I seen such an odd group before?_

* * *

Tali had her back against the wall, close to the store's entrance. She was busy with her omnitool, trying to review the results of a simulation on another possible shield upgrade for the ship. But she could not concentrate, her thoughts constantly drifting to John's wink. Some human ways were still confusing for her, even after so much time spent on both versions of the Normandy. The wink was one of them, maybe because its quarian signification was so different. For humans, and depending on the situation, she knew it meant something like 'what I'm saying is a lie/joke against another person' or 'what I'm saying has a special meaning just for you.' She was pretty sure he had meant the latter... And here he was, buying personal hygiene products. Her eyes got wider for a second _Keelah! He's getting something for...us_. Realizing this made her feel uneasy, but in a pleasant and exciting way, her feelings for the human mixing with the sensation of mild danger as a 'secret message' had been exchanged right in front of Garrus... She liked this. She also liked the fact that he was trying to do his part, however small it was.

This reminded her of the last item she needed to complete her preparations. She had already planned on slipping out of the Normandy later in the day to go shopping on her own, as this might be her last opportunity to purchase the supplements - or the plants to make them. Using her omnitool, she reviewed the map showing the two turian apothecaries nearest to where the Normandy was docked.

Moments later, interrupting her thoughts, Garrus called softly "Tali."

Tali looked at him, confused "What?"

Garrus turned, looking inside the store, and made a hand signal for her to approach.

Intrigued, Tali walked to his side and looked in the direction he was indicating. Several meters away, she could see John with an asari. The latter was pointing at a shelf filled with bottles of various shapes and colors and was talking, likely explaining something to him.

"You noticed how Shepard seems happier than usual lately?"

In a flat tone, she replied "Maybe..."

He was looking at her now "You too, by the way."

She looked back at him. Why was he talking like that? Feeling more and more uncomfortable under his gaze, she asked "...And?"

"Oh, come on Tali! You think ol' Garrus can't see this?" He was nodding toward the commander, who was busy comparing two bottles, holding one in each hand. "I always felt there was something between you two... But it changed some days ago." He looked at her again. "So, I concluded you two must have decided to... you know, get serious about it."

She was embarrassed. Of course, this had to happen eventually and there was no point now in denying. She sighed. "Well, we decided to do this... discreetly. Not to rush things." She did not want to say more than necessary. "So, I would appreciate if you could keep this to yourself..."

The turian chuckled. "What you don't realize Tali, is that everybody on the ship already knows about this. Right now, the speculation is about what exactly is happening on deck 1 near the end of second shift on most days. There are bets also on when you'll skip your turn in the sleep pod for the first time."

Tali was shocked. How could she have been blind to all of this? In her mind, she could picture them all, gossiping behind their back. "Bosh'tets! All of them!" Her hands had formed into fists. _I'll make them pay for this_.

"Look Tali, I'm happy for you two... Spirits know you deserve to have some happiness. It's just that..." he pointed to her "with your condition... I just hope you know what you're doing. I don't want to loose any of you to some stupid bug or other... complication." He had become very serious.

His words and his obvious concern had a calming effect on her. She sighed again, quickly loosing her anger. "Don't worry... We're being careful." This sounded false - she knew that was not entirely true; but if they waited for a clean room and a decontamination unit, they would never do anything.

"I know you're probably taking the most direct risks... but I'm sure you know also what it would do to Shepard if something happened to you..."

She looked at him. His words had struck home. He was worried. Almost as much as she was herself, deep down inside. Placing a hand on his arm, she squeezed lightly and replied "Yes, I do..." She knew that if anything bad happened to her, even if it was mostly of her own fault, John would feel responsible for it. That was why she would wait until the last moment before the final battle to share herself with him.

The turian nodded. His concern had been heard. Nothing more needed to be said.

As if to physically put an end to this intense exchange, their attention was suddenly drawn to the nearby door as a client - another asari - was coming in. The newcomer stopped abruptly, gasping at their sight. Tali slowly got out of the way, back to her initial position along the wall. Garrus tried to smile reassuringly as he took two steps back. The asari looked nervously at them for a few seconds, shook her head and continued quickly on her way inside the store.

* * *

Shepard was with them again, holding a blue and orange shopping bag. They got out of the store, back into the street and the heat.

"Phew! You don't know how close we got to causing an incident!"

Garrus and Tali both turned to him, but before any of them could voice a question, a speaker by the side of the door they had just gone through started to blare "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite drugstore."

Tali could not contain her laughter when she saw the human wincing at the sound of his voice.

Garrus snickered "You're a whore Shepard, you know that?"

Shepard smirked "The owner recognized me and she was, lets say... insistant!"

They resumed their walk toward the nearby extraction point. Along the way the commander explained why, next time he wanted to buy stuff, he would use the extranet and have his purchases delivered.


	4. Aliens in the Night

This is the alien sex scene just before the Omega 4 relay.

There is basically no limit to the amount of alienness one could put into this kind of thing, to the point of making it very bizarre/creepy (if so desired).

Here, I tried to take into account: 1) It's Tali's first intimate experience (some clumsiness should be expected). 2) Tali is well prepared (the theory of it at least, as she has done her research). 3) Tali's translator is located in her helmet (most likely in my opinion – see added note further down). 4) Quarians have facial expressions that would be, at best, hard to interpret for an untrained human (seems a reasonable assumption). 5) Human and quarian genitals are not compatible (seems a reasonable assumption too). Hard to avoid a minimum of details though, and for writing purposes I thus assumed – sort of between the lines – that quarian _action_ is at skin level and involving lots of rubbing. But these details are not important; the main point being that anatomical limitations would not stop two open-minded lovers. 6) Tali is not incredibly beautiful (I'm not against her being so, I just think it makes the story less plausible if she is).

I chose a good ending to this chapter… because I like good endings. But it could be sad, funny or just plain confusing! For a time, I toyed with the idea that, for some reason (him being constantly under stress, his coming back from death or any other reason you can think of), Shepard would suffer from erectile dysfunction. Just imagine Shepard feverishly rummaging through drawers for a 'blue pill…' and Tali shaken by what she would interpret (based on her research) as an absence of desire for her… Also, Tali could be smelly (you know, the suit having to recycle everything…), but the suits are marvels of technology and must have a 'wash cycle' of some kind. I would expect Tali to use it - insert dishwasher sound here - during the elevator trip to deck1.

**Added note (Feb 8 2012):** The part where Tali removes her helmet is a little bit tricky because of the translators. Shepard's translator is an implant while I assume Tali's to be in her helmet. I don't think it would make sense for quarians (in terms of resources) to invest in implantable translators if their use is limited to the duration of the pilgrimage, and considering that quarian helmets already have audio I/O components - the perfect location for a translator. In this chapter, Tali uses her helmet as an external translator, picking up what Shepard says and outputting it in khelish… but Shepard hears it too, and his own implanted translator does its job. What he hears from the helmet are his own words having gone through two different translators, hence the slight change in wording as the two different softwares do their job. Hope this explanation helps… Anyway, such a relationship should be anything but easy, so bear with me.

Enough rambling. Here it is. Please review.

* * *

**Chapter 4. Aliens in the Night.**

John Shepard was coming to grips with his situation. When Tali's visor finally came off, he barely had a second to see her alien features – to be more precise, he had stared at them - before she pounced on him! He had been stunned by this completely unexpected... 'aggression', but his lips had responded reflexively to hers. As he recovered, feeling her lips moving about on his face, he decided to go with the flow; he had wanted this, after all. He moved his hands to the young woman's back, stroking her encouragingly.

Tali had secretly hoped for a smile from him, but had also feared a negative reaction. Stumped by his completely neutral face, her instinct had been to… pounce. Now, her fears forgotten, she was in raptures. She had wanted this for so long! His lips were softer and warmer than she had expected, but the feeling was exhilarating. Her gloved hands holding the sides of his head, she now moved her lips to his cheek, feeling the roughness of his nascent beard and the slight irregularities of his healed scars, then to his eyes, feeling the smoothness of his eyelids and the soft hair of his eyebrows. Her nose had been brushing against him too, and he smelled... not bad. Her heart was racing. She wanted to take all these sensations in at once. Leaning more into him, feeling his hands moving on her back despite her suit, she was overjoyed...

"Ouch!" shouted Shepard as he suddenly jerked his head away.

"Oh! I- I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, quickly pulling back. Concerned, she searched his face, trying to see where her helmet had struck. The magic of the moment had vanished and she now felt stupid and clumsy, as if she had broken a delicate piece of equipment by being too eager. "Are you hurt?" she asked, her voice shaky.

He half raised and leaned on an elbow, looking back at her while he massaged his cheekbone with his other hand. His perplexed expression gradually changed to a reassuring smile "It's nothing, Tali... more surprise than anything else."

Still feeling bad, she stammered "It's my damn helmet! G-give me a minute..." She sat beside him, quickly pulled-off her veil, and started on the methodical process of removing her helmet and the tubes attached on its back. Her hands were shaking, slowing her down and making her even more nervous. _This is taking too long! Why is it so long! Damn it!_

Having moved to sit in front of her, John was watching as she worked on her helmet's attachments, his hands tentatively touching her slender and strangely curved legs, the shin guards hard against his fingers. He could not help but stare at her face again, now that he had time to examine its details. She did not strike him as particularly beautiful. But, as he had noted on the old picture in Mordin's so-called 'advice booklet,' there was a definite harmony, and he could easily convince himself that she was cute... somehow. He liked the shape of her chin and that of her nose also. The color of her skin was… interesting. _This is Tali_, the woman he had fallen for despite everything that separated them. All that really mattered now was that they could share this precious moment together, their first and maybe their last...

She finally removed the whole contraption and dropped-it on the bed next to her, some of the attached tubes bouncing for a brief moment. She turned to him. "Damn helmet! Now I'm ready!"

He was not sure how to interpret her facial expression... The tone of her voice had been… serious or rather... determined. Locking eyes with her, he extended a hand to her cheek, caressing it lightly with the tip of two fingers. Her skin was firm, much less elastic than he would have expected of a human.. She closed her eyes and her expression changed... _concentrated? contented?_ He had been used to read her emotions by the tone of her voice and by looking at her stance. Now, with a face to look at, he was at a loss. He moved his fingers to her lips, then along her chin and said "you're kinda cute, Miss vas Normandy." Her eyes opened again, her expression changed... _was that a smile?_

"I- I didn't understand what you said..."

She looked down at her omnitool, and Shepard observed her ..._serious expression_ coming back. She paused for a moment before looking back at him with... _definitely a smile_ – this time he could tell by the way she had moved her head and it was also in her voice.

"I have an idea. This should work!" She reached for both her visor and helmet, swiftly putting them back together with a few audible clicks. She then placed the thing - with its attached tubes - back on the edge of the bed and returned to drumming commands on her omnitool. Her job apparently finished, Tali straightened and smiled at him again. "So, John… what did you just say?"

Smiling also, he repeated "I said you're cute, Tali..." and it was weird because he could hear his words repeated, softly at first - then louder as she fiddled with her omnitool again - by the flashing mouthpiece of her reconstituted helmet. Obviously, she had rerouted her translator output. "And you're so smart also!" he added, laughing, but stopped abruptly and looked at the helmet again, surprised at the strange echo that had come out slightly different... It had said "And you're very astute also!" This was disturbing. Creepy even; the helmet was like Tali's head - lying on the bed, separated from her body - and it was speaking with something close to his own voice...

Smiling brightly, in part because of the compliments, but also because of the funny look on his face as he stared at her helmet, she decided it was the right time to pounce on him again.

Shepard was not taken by surprise this time, however. Moving faster than she expected, he managed to use her momentum to reverse their positions of a few minutes ago. "It's my turn, now!" he said, with a predatory grin, as Tali laughed. The way her features changed when she laughed was cute, and he started laughing also.

They locked eyes and both stopped laughing, becoming silent and serious again.

She was watching him expectantly now as he slowly leaned toward her. Closing her eyes, she sighed as his lips made contact and started to explore slowly and delicately every part of her face. She tried not to move, concentrating on the unusual sensations. _This is so good_. She noticed that, despite still having her suit on, the closeness of his body, his hand moving about on her right side and his warm lips on her face were eliciting what she could only describe as a slow shudder coming up her spine, accompanied by some kind of numbness that was slowly invading her four limbs. Also, her breathing was becoming more difficult as her chest slowly filled with a strangely oppressive but agreeable sensation. This was so pleasurable and completely different from what she usually experienced with her suit's nerve stimulation program. His lips were so close to hers now... She just had to move a little to claim them...

After having teased her enough to his liking, he was slowly approaching her lips for the finale. He was startled however when she suddenly put her hands on the sides of his head, and pushed their mouths together. Teeth impacted and both pulled away at once.

She felt foolish once more. She had not been hurt, only surprised... But she searched his face while he was inspecting his teeth with a finger, afraid of finding any trace of disappointment... or annoyance. "I- I'm sorry… Again" she stammered.

He responded with a reassuring smile. "It's nothing... Again." After massaging a tooth for a few more seconds, he looked at her and said "Let's try once more... but slowly."

And they did. And repeated again. Longer and deeper each time. She tried not to move, afraid of making another mistake.

After a few minutes, she pulled back enough to look at him. "This is good… But I want more. Let me remove the rest of my suit." It was a statement, clearly not intended to be discussed.

Despite this, he glanced at the clock by the side of his bed and asked "Is there enough time?"

"Don't worry... more than enough. I'll be quick!" She pulled him to her and, with a powerful and sudden twist of her lower body, rolled him on his back. On top now, she was straddling him, happy with her clever move. Extending a gloved hand, she caressed his cheek and looked into his eyes, saying "Remember... I want to feel your skin on mine."

Returning her gaze, he said nothing. That was exactly what he wanted too.

With deft hands, she started at once with the golden piece covering her neck.

* * *

Of all the things he had done and seen in his life, the quarian orgasm he had just been witness to - and instrumental in - easily ranked among the most... special. He felt good about it, even if he did not get his own release in the process. Was it pride, happiness at seeing his own... prowess? No, he had no illusions about that; Tali had guided his hand. She obviously had been well prepared and, even if they had to try several positions before finding one that worked, there had been much less fumbling than he would have thought. His happiness was at the thought of her first experience having been a good one. He smiled as he looked at her face so close to his, her eyes shut and her mouth slightly open. _She's amazing_. She seemed so calm now, in contrast to just a few minutes ago. He was not sure if she was asleep.

He shifted his left arm a little around her shoulder. In response, she sighed, adjusted her head on his shoulder and tightened her grip on his chest. In his mind, he could see her again as she had quickly removed her suit, piece by piece, with no apparent shame, and had given him a quick tour of her anatomy. So many things about her were strange and unusual… from the texture of her skin, to that of her breasts, the lines of her muscles, and even her body temperature which was slightly off. He smiled again as he remembered how enthusiastic she had been, holding his erect member in her three fingered hands as she proceeded with her own careful inspection. Her smile had grown even bigger when she learned he had condoms in a drawer, and had insisted on helping him put one on. "Just in case" she had said. But something did not add up... _How does she know about these?_. He would have to ask her eventually...

There was only one thing that had bugged him, in fact. Her helmet. He looked at it as it now rested on top of his bedside table. Its creepy echo had been too loud to his liking and it had not picked up most of the lovely things he had whispered to her. If circumstances allowed, and if they could do this again, he would have to convince her to get an implant. He shook his head as he realized how optimistic that idea was. They first had to survive the upcoming mission and then she - he glanced at her again - had to survive their 'activity.' He managed to force the gloomy thoughts out of his mind.

Flexing his right wrist, he felt the weariness in his forearm. All that rubbing with his fingertips had been hard work. The sensitive areas she had down there sure were tough - then again, quarian skin seemed much tougher than its human counterpart. He was glad it had worked though, even if he had only been able to 'stimulate' four of them. His hand felt sticky; her lower abdomen had oozed some kind of viscous fluid during their exertion, and some of the stuff was still on his fingers. Absentmindedly, he used a corner of the bed sheets to wipe it off as best he could.

This apparently attracted Tali's attention. She stirred by his side, opening her eyes. Smiling at him, she took a deep breath and planted a kiss on his cheek. "That was incredible… I knew those extra fingers of yours could be put to good use."

"You did put on quite a show! You must have to hide in a dark corner when you want to use your nerve stimulation program!"

She snorted "Thanks to you, now I know this thing is a rip-off! It's just a shadow of the real thing!" She chuckled. "If I could, I'd put you in my suit instead…" She leaned onto him and their lips met again. A long kiss ensued.

Her hand slowly moved down his abdomen to his now noticeably smaller and softer member. Interrupting the kiss, she turned her head and looked toward it. Chuckling again, she asked "Going soft on me?"

He grinned, "Ah... Hold on a little longer, it'll grow back, don't worry." In fact, he could already feel his hard-on coming back under her touch. Fast.

She turned back to him, bright eyes looking into his. "I see..."

They kissed again.

Breaking away from his lips, she changed position and said "Sharing goes both ways, John... Now let me try to even things out."

He must have looked particularly confused, because she chuckled and said, still looking at him "Remember when I said I would do some research to make this work? Well, I didn't mean for my immune system only…" Turning now to the part of him she held in her hand, she thanked her luck for the contraceptive device that would protect her from an additional and needless exposure. Slowly, picturing in her mind the human women she had seen in all those vids, she lowered her head. He would definitely remember this.

Stunned again, he looked on with a mixture of disbelief and anticipation. _She's amazing_.


	5. Epilogue

5/26/11. I edited the end of this chapter... In the first published version, I thought the characters were somehow losing their consistency near the end and I felt their interaction was not 'natural' enough. I think this version is much better.

* * *

**Chapter 5. Epilogue**

_Even the fishes had survived_. She watched the small aquatic creatures in their tank along the opposite wall. _Everything feels so unreal_. The collector base had disappeared in a fiery explosion just over thirty-three hours ago and the mixture of joy, worry, pain, combat stress and exhaustion that had permeated the ship right after their victory had mostly abated. Injuries had been tended to, repairs had been started, celebrations had happened and sleep had been obtained. It was to be a suicide mission and yet - unbelievably - everybody was alive and the collectors were no more than a memory. A terrible one for sure, but a memory nonetheless, destined to fade away like all others. The fishes, as most of the galaxy's denizens, were completely oblivious to what the Normandy and its crew had accomplished.

Sighing, she turned to her human lover, who was lying on the couch, head resting in her lap, eyes closed. _He looks so calm_. She felt herself flush as some recent memories rushed through her mind; _I wish those memories would never fade_... Compounding her feeling of unreality was the possible future she now saw opening up before her as a consequence of her surprisingly mild reaction to her out-of-suit experience. She had often dreamed of such a future with him, but had never allowed herself to believe in it. Until now, that is.

With a single gloved finger, she lightly brushed his forehead, then let her caress slide slowly along a curving eyebrow, down the side of his face, along his jaw, then back toward the midline, ending just underneath his chin. She then started on the other side with the same finger, taking care to stay clear of the swollen purple skin around the stitched gash on his cheek where a husk had managed to hit. _Another scar in the making_. This was a moment of quiet felicity and she wanted to be happy, but new worries were already gnawing at her. _What if they were not convinced by my arguments? Would they ask me to come back to the Fleet?_ She knew where she had to be, but the mere thought of going against the admiralty board filled her with apprehension. The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of a misunderstanding between them and him. She sighed again.

Shepard opened his eyes and smirked, looking at her "You know, if they do recall you... I could hide in your luggage... You'd be boarding the Neema with a big crate, and everybody would be looking at you, wondering just what you brought back..."

She knew he was trying to make her feel better. And it was working a little, somehow... Yes, she could see it in her mind now, pushing a large wheeled crate - with squeaky wheels - along the passageways of the ship, then squeezing it in her small cubicle where it would take more than half of the space, barely fitting between her bunk and her desk, provided she had removed the chair first. She would then turn to the mob of curious onlookers just outside her doorway, yelling "Nothing to see" before closing the curtain she used as a door. The whole idea was funny. She snorted, and it was enough to send her into another coughing fit. Once her upper airways were clear again, she managed to say in a playful tone "And... Even if we found a way to fool the scans, how long do you think you could stay hidden?"

Despite his face being sideways as he looked up at her, she could see the concern in his eyes because of her coughing as he hesitated a little before replying "I could be very ...quiet."

Thinking of what they could end-up trying to do on her bunk she leaned forward until her visor was almost touching his nose and, gazing into his eyes, whispered in a sultry tone "Not if I can help it..." She felt herself flush again. _How bold am I becoming_...

He replied "Hmm... right. Bad plan." His intact cheek had taken some color too.

It took a moment for Shepard to steer his mind away from the images her reply had conjured.

More seriously now, he asked "Are you sure you have to send your report so soon? I mean... with the reapers still out there, this was just a part of the larger mission..."

"You have to understand, John... the admirals need to know I'm still working for them and my people. They would expect a timely report, sent as soon as we get back in Citadel space. And this will also help you... My report and the data will inform them of your rift with Cerberus, of your willingness to share critical information with the Fleet and..." Her eyes seemed to shine brighter as he heard the smile in her voice "... how trustworthy and honorable you are."

He smirked at her last words "Please stop the flattering..." His smile disappeared as he continued "But the risk is that they'll think everything is over and recall you for some other crazy mission of theirs..." He reached for her hand just under his chin and squeezed it gently. Sighing he added "But you're right... We've got to play this by the book."

Both were silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Looking at her again, he continued "Anyway, judging from the parts of your report I've seen, I think you can be pretty convincing. And the data from the collector base... It's been scrubbed?"

"Don't worry. I'll go through the files one more time. I asked EDI to verify everything also. All of the video footage I included is from Legion itself... so it is not directly visible in any of it. We also watched for reflections off any smooth surfaces... We checked the audio and edited out any geth sound." She shifted slightly to relieve some of the pressure in her hip, where the wound from a grazing collector shot was still throbbing. "We even checked for any scan data, to make sure there's no indirect evidence of a geth among us. This will be a great gift to the Fleet, John."

"We're going to give the same data to all our allies, so it's not really a gift... Anyway, I like the way you present it in your report, almost but not quite promising more of that kind of intel to come eventually if you can stay here." He smiled at her again "I also like the line where you say that you've come up with new insights on the geth and that you need to investigate further with my help. That will get their attention!"

She smiled, her spirits improving with each of his comments. Yes, her report will list many reasons why her continued presence on the Normandy would benefit the Migrant Fleet. Of course, the reason to stay that was closest to her heart had to be kept unsaid for the moment. She had to be here, at his side, until the end. She would cooperate if, despite all her efforts, the admirals decided to recall her; she would come and try to convince them. She was ready to make a fuss. She looked at Shepard again. _Maybe I could even shout at them_. But one thing was sure: she would come back to his side right away even if, in the end, it was against the admirals' will. What worried her however was that, if it came down to a confrontation, the whole idea of improving John's standing with her people would be dashed. She sighed once more.

Feeling Tali's mood darkening again, Shepard decided to change the subject altogether. "How is the morale in engineering?"

She took a few seconds to consider his question. "It's ok. ...Because of my wound, I'm reduced to 'just bossing around' as Kenneth said..."

"I heard Donnelly has been pretty shaken... "

"Oh, he's still quieter than usual... But I think all this talk about his near-death experience in a collector pod and how it made him reconsider things... I think it's just temporary... Gabriella seems more stable, but she probably just doesn't show it as much."

"They'll be all right, you'll see... Keeping their hands busy with the repairs will be good for them." He chuckled "I also heard Donnelly has lost his accent… I just knew this had to be fake; I'm sure nobody has had that kind of accent for a hundred years or more. Probably picked-it from some old recordings when he was at school, trying to impress a girl..."

She tilted her head to one side "Is that so? ...Are you're telling me you never tried to impress girls?"

He smiled smugly "No ...I'm just naturally impressive."

She smiled also as she recalled an appropriate human idiom. Delicately poking the skin close to his wound with the tip of a finger, she retorted mischievously "Oh? …No wonder you got hurt there! ...A big head like yours is hard to miss!"

He laughed and replied "What? Does it mean I can also comment on the part of your anatomy that got hit?"

"Why you little bosh'tet!" She punched his chest playfully.

He caught her three-fingered fist and brought it to his lips for a noisy kiss. He then kept it squeezed against his chest for a moment. He could not remember having felt so content and relaxed in a long time. Unfortunately, this could not last; his mind was already planning for the next move in his campaign. "So, tomorrow's the big day?"

"Yes... We'll be testing the drive core and the propulsion system with increasing loads. If everything runs smoothly, we could go back through the relay as soon as tomorrow."

"Once we're on the other side, I'll have to get in touch with some people... I've got a couple of options on where to dock for the repairs. And once the Normandy is shiny and new again, we'll have to start going from place to place, convincing people, gather allies ...you know, that kind of stuff."

"So... no more fighting?"

"I'm not really sure about that, but it's probably going to be more" he grimaced "...political."

"Oh, I'm not worried with that! You may not like it, but you're good at convincing people." Not done with the teasing, she added "...Well, it should be ok as long as you don't talk about 'convergent evolution' anymore that is..."

He snorted "You won't let go, will you? I bet that years from now, you'd still be teasing me with that!"

Locking eyes with him, she replied dreamily "Yes John, I wish I could still be teasing you years from now... and everyday in between now and then... And even after that..." Looking away, toward an invisible distant horizon, she added "Can you imagine what it would be like?"

Her words reminded him of what Kasumi had told him once, something about Tali talking in a 'rainbows and butterflies kind of way.' But he could tease her too. "You mean the sweet and sour feeling of being constantly nagged by a cute and way too smart quarian woman?"

"Come-on, you know what I mean..." She punched him on the chest again.

He chuckled and then just smiled at her. Of course, he knew what she meant. She had been hinting at it often enough. He too had briefly thought about it at some point. But now that they knew it was possible to be together without her dying, this warranted to be reconsidered. Could they make promises to each other while the threat of the reapers remained? On the other hand, what if they waited for nothing? _Looks like_ s_he's dead set on this... and I could not be happy with any other... _He thought of all the problems this could get him into, not only with the quarians, but with public opinion in the rest of the galaxy. He personally could not care less how other people would react to this, but public opinion can be a powerful weapon - and he needed everything he could get on his side for the coming campaign. _Maybe it would be easier if we bunked together for some time... we could talk about it at least_. In fact, now seemed the right moment to ask her, as the next sleep cycle would be the first truly quiet one since the collectors had been dealt with.

Slowly, he sat up, turned to face her and asked "Will you stay with me tonight?"

There was a pause, as if she had been surprised by the question. "...You know I'm not well enough yet to... My fever..."

Realizing this was not going exactly as he had hoped, he tried to reformulate "I meant... you know, just to sleep together... I would have asked before, but you wanted to keep things quiet because of the crew and all..." Embarrassed, he continued as his smile lost some of its initial assurance "But I think the crew knows now, so... you know, you could move in with me…" With one arm, he made a sweeping gesture indicating the whole place "This is more than big enough for the two of us!"

"Oh…" She too was embarrassed now, in part because of her misinterpretation, but also because of what he was asking. There were very serious implications to such a proposal among quarians - clearly, he did not remember their discussion of a few weeks ago on this very same topic. But she knew that, for humans, this 'moving-in' thing was considered more or less as just another normal step in a deepening relationship. She looked at him, at his slightly wavering smile and his eyes full of hope… Obviously, he was expecting a positive answer and here she was, hesitating because of a cultural difference and the weight of her upbringing. _I'm being stupid_... _After everything we have done together..._ _And this is not a quarian ship after all.._. Her decision made, she smiled back at him and said "Yes... I'll move in with you!"

Before her very eyes, Shepard's smile morphed into a big grin. "Good... You don't know how happy you've just made me" he said as he reached for her hand and squeezed-it eagerly. Getting up, still grinning, he announced "I'm going to prepare then... I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I'll be right here waiting for you" she replied as joyfully. In fact, she could literally see how happy he was as he bounced toward the bathroom and, really, there could be no better confirmation that her decision had been the right one.

Her sentiment of unreality caught-up with her again as she sat there, pondering on the many changes in her life these last few days… She was getting more than she ever thought possible, and it was bewildering. She smiled to herself. _And now we're 'moving in' together._ Oh, she so wanted to remind him of what it meant on the Migrant Fleet when a couple was moving in the same cubicle. _Maybe then he would finally get the hint_. Thinking of her fellow quarians, she also considered briefly the problem of how to reveal her relationship to her auntie Shala'Raan and then to others... _I'll have to approach her carefully..._

Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, she got up and took a few careful steps, surveying the incredibly luxurious room with a new perspective. Looking at the nearby bed they were soon to share again - but in a different way than the last time - she felt more and more excited now at the prospect of actually sleeping with him. The mild pain in her wounded hip helped to fight an urge to bounce around in joy. Forcing herself to focus on a more pragmatic consideration, she made a quick inventory of her meager belongings and tried to decide if it was better to move them to deck 1 or leave them in their current location down there.

That's when she recalled the sleep pod, the crew, the bets on her sleep schedule, and the deal Garrus had made with her. Quickly, she activated her omnitool and started writing a short message for the turian. She had been so angry when she had first learned of the bets - which were still on, Garrus had assured her earlier today. Cheating was like stealing and, normally, she would not even have considered doing something like that. But Garrus had had little difficulty convincing her that, in this specific case, it would not really be stealing but more a form of payback. "Take that!" she muttered, as she pressed the holographic 'send' button. Her share of credits would be small, but she didn't care; the exquisite feeling of having the last laugh was worth so much more.


End file.
